A grill master named Smartphone
Many grillers struggle to keep the temperature in their charcoal-fired grills at a constant level when cooking ribs and the like. Others are concerned with absolute perfection and accuracy in the temperature curve. But constantly looking at the thermometer is not a long-term solution, because pulling pork eventually becomes an extremely stressful affair. It would be nice to automate the control system. Ideally, in the way you might have seen with a pellet smoker. And that is possible - but only now is the technology at a level where it can be used by grillers who are not electronics or computer experts.
The principle
An automatic grill control works by regulating the combustion air supply with the help of a fan. This all happens depending on the temperature in the cooking chamber. A target temperature is set. If this temperature is not reached, the fan blows and fans the embers. If the temperature is too high, the fan does nothing and the heat decreases again. The tighter a grill closes, the better such a system works. It is particularly practical if the control can be operated via mobile phone.
First approaches
In fact, one of the first attempts in this direction in this country was not a commercial solution at all, but a DIY project called WLANThermo (wlanthermo.de). And even if you can now buy some of the hardware ready-made, the whole thing is still a matter for those interested in technology and suitably experienced contemporaries. But at least what was once created as a WLAN-enabled thermometer can now control a fan.
With BBQ Guru, the control and the fan are separate, which allows the use of different control unit models.
The Fireboard controllers work on the same principle as the Guru, but place more focus on the thermometer functionality.
Purchase solutions
The first and probably now best-known system that was more or less available to buy ready-made is the BBQ Guru. It is the system for which there are probably the most adapters. The portfolio ranges from solutions for kettle or ceramic grills to those with two fans for larger smokers and even a connection for a ball valve, so that you could even control your own home-made Ugly Drum Smoker. The control units, however, were the Achilles heel for a long time; the "large" internet-enabled models in particular sometimes required a certain amount of support. About nine months ago, however, two completely newly developed controls - DynaQ and UltraQ - came onto the market that work much better. In Germany, BBQ Guru is imported and distributed by Monolith, so it is no surprise that the automation of the Monolith ceramic grills is also based on the Gurus. There is even a separate edition that has the fan integrated at the factory; the other models have had a nozzle onto which the fans are attached since this model year.
Big Green Egg and Kamado Joe each offer their own solutions; BGE calls it EGG Genius, Kamado Joe calls it iKamand. The special thing about both solutions is that the controller and fan more or less form a single unit. This saves a cable compared to the Guru, but also limits flexibility.
The Fireboard system is similar in structure to the Gurus. The focus of the sets offered here is on temperature measurement. The controllers can process up to 6 sensors. Fans and adapters must be purchased separately. The fan can only be connected natively to the controllers with the "Drive" option; if you already have a Fireboard 1 or 2 controller, you will need a fairly expensive adapter cable.
The Inkbird ISC-007BW is relatively new and unfortunately not available in Germany at the time of writing this article for logistical reasons. Here too, the controller and fan are one unit, although the device is not located directly on the grill, but is connected to it via an air hose.
At a price of 199 euros, the Inkbird solution, which can be ordered even cheaper in the Far East, is the cheapest system. The BBQ Guru UltraQ universal set is at the top end of the scale at 469 euros.
Egg-Genius and iKamand are placed directly on the air supply flap of the respective Kamados. This makes the systems compact, but also limits their area of application.
The Inkbird is also compact, but with the hose it looks a bit like a ventilator for the grill
What is the point of all this?
So none of the systems is a real bargain. And so you might ask what the griller at home gets out of it, other than being able to see how hot his grill is and how cooked his food is via WiFi. Basically, you have to first note that such an investment is certainly not particularly useful if you make ribs once a year and cook a roast beef twice in one go. Something like this is intended for those who often do long jobs, i.e. prepare a lot of pulled pork, brisket and other things that are left in the cooking chamber for several hours at relatively low temperatures. We have already briefly mentioned that the functioning of such a control system generally depends on the grill. Even a Guru for almost 500 euros can at best cushion the structural or material weaknesses of a grill, but cannot completely compensate for them. If a grill cannot be closed properly and is constantly drawing air from the side, it is difficult to regulate it properly.
You are also not doing yourself any favors by hanging such a fan on a water or other thin-walled smoker that is exposed to the wind when the outside temperature is 3°C. Then it might manage 120°C on the top grate level, but the fan will probably run at full speed all the time and the coal consumption will triple. The temperature gradient between the sidefire box and the cooking chamber in many classic offset smokers, which is due to the design, cannot be eliminated by a grill control. It is useful for all grills that already allow for usable temperature control. This could be a good kettle grill or a water smoker. But they should be protected. And of course the temperature can also be kept constant in a decent offset smoker in this way. The only important thing here is where you place the food to be grilled and the cooking chamber temperature sensor. In the best case, however, such a control, once correctly set, regulates precisely within a window of +/- 5°C around the selected target temperature.
It is particularly practical if such a control system has useful additional functions, such as a ramp mode. This ensures that once the core temperature has been reached, the grill is lowered to a warming temperature. The detection of when the lid is opened is also useful. The principle is the same as with heating thermostats; the device detects a sudden drop in temperature. Such detection ensures that the temperature is briefly and discreetly increased again after the lid is closed and the control system does not think that it has to heat the coals up again completely.
“Scientific” grilling
Being able to operate the grill comfortably is certainly a very important aspect of such controls. For competitive grillers, however, there is something else to consider: Such a system makes the results reproducible. Especially if you link the whole thing to electronic documentation. Many WiFi-enabled thermometers, even without a control, are linked to online services that allow you to record every cooking process. In some cases, this goes so far that even the outside temperature and humidity on the day in question can be recorded. It is also possible to make notes relating to specific times of the cooking process. If you maintain this carefully, you will end up with a suitable setup for all conceivable weather or other conditions. This is definitely an advantage of such grill controls, even if it may go beyond the needs of the hobby griller.
The installation
Using a grill controller brings with it a few practical challenges. Since they have to supply the fan with power and usually also have WiFi, the power consumption is so high that battery operation is no longer practical. Until recently, BBQ Guru had the PartyQ, a very simple "controller" that could only be operated with batteries. This was a problem, especially in winter, because the cold causes the capacity of most batteries to suffer. Powering the device via a power adapter therefore makes sense. However, you should not completely lose sight of the fact that the grill should be kept relatively dry. This is because the plug-in power adapters supplied are usually intended for indoor use. A sudden downpour can quickly become a problem.
What should also not be underestimated is the amount of setup work that you have to do each time. It is a bit more complicated than with normal thermometers, not least because you have to attach the fan to the grill and possibly take care of a power supply.
CONCLUSION:
A grill control is certainly not a mandatory accessory for every griller. However, anyone who often does ambitious long jobs will certainly learn to appreciate such a device. However, you should be clear about one thing: operating a grill in this way is absolutely results-oriented. If you are also interested in the cooking process, you will probably not be happy with such a system.
Author: Markus Mizgalski
Using a BBQ Guru UltraQ, we show how a grill control on a Kamado works:
- First, the adapter plate must be placed in front of the air supply opening and otherwise closed with the slider.
- Then the fan is attached. With the Guru, it is important to note that there is also a mechanical lock for the air supply opening. This should be open.
- Now you put the actual control unit into operation and wire it up to both the fan and the measuring sensors (probes). Note: The integration is via WiFi and you have already registered with the associated online service “Share my cook”.
- Now the coal is lit as usual and the setup for indirect grilling is “installed”.
- Using the smartphone app, you can now set the desired cooking chamber temperature and the core temperature you want to achieve.
- The sensors should be placed in the grill in such a way that they do not prevent it from closing tightly. In this case, through the lid valve, which can be opened halfway or completely.
- Now the temperature sensors are placed. It is important that the cooking chamber sensor is placed as far away from the rising heat as possible and not directly on good heat conductors such as the grill. With the design in the picture, you could also save yourself the crocodile clip and put the sensor directly into the holder of the "tree".
- Now all that’s left is to close the lid and let the controls do their work.
- If you like, you can monitor the cooking process on the screen; however, if something isn't going as expected, the app will let you know.
